Sermon Title: When You Get It, You Worship
Text: John 1:1-6
Date: 11/20/07
By Dcn. Chris Nerreau
INTRODUCTION: Today we celebrate the final Sunday in Ordinary time with the feast of “Christ the King”. This feast is a time of reflection on the magisterial aspects of Christ, but it’s also a great time to take spiritual inventory as next week is the beginning of a brand new year.
ILLUSTRATION: Keeping this feast in mind, I want to share a story with you. Last month, our president was visiting a dignitary in Russia. I was appalled to learn that the dignitary was 20 min. late for the meeting, he did not engage the President in any conversation and when our president extended his hand, the dignitary refused to shake it! This was very frustrating for me, how does this make you feel as an American, that your president was insulted in such a manner?
Actually that is a fictitious story, but I told it to help make sense of what I am about to say. You may not know it, but many of you here today are just like that dignitary. And so am I! We stand before the King of Kings, the Lord of glory who is to be forever praised, one who opens His Kingdom to us and extends His hand and we snub Him. Mt. 15:8 “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.”
You may be thinking, “That’s not true!”, “I do not do that!”, “what are you talking about?” Well, how many of you show up for church late? How many fall asleep during times of prayer, or ever during a sermon? How many, during the praise and worship time are thinking about something completely unrelated to Christ?
Please don’t misunderstand, I am not condemning you, I do it myself! But I think our behavior illustrates a greater point, maybe from time to time, we need to be reminded of whom it is we are actually worshipping.
Today, being the feast day of Christ the King is a perfect time to jog our memory!
PROPOSITION: True worship of Christ comes as response to (1) who Christ is and (2) what Christ has done for us. If we miss place either of these, we have misplaced proper worship.
TRANSITION: So today let’s spend a few minutes reminding ourselves who Christ is and what Christ has done for us in order that proper worship be the overflow…
I. Who Is Christ – (John 1:3)
ILLUSTRATION:
Did you know there are two hundred and fifty-six names given in the Bible for the Lord Jesus Christ; I suppose this was because He was infinitely beyond what any single name could express, apart from “I am”.
Let’s look together at what this means (Read John 1: 1-3)
EXPOSITION:
V1. “In the beginning” - Christ is eternal and self existent
As far back as the human mind can conceive, parallels (Gen. 1). We see Christ as beyond linear time, space and matter. At whatever point the world began, Christ already existed.
This means that the Christ we worship is both infinite (outside of time, space and matter) and self existent, not dependant upon any created thing to sustain His existence.
ILLUSTRATION:
To understand self existent – He is the very first cause and nothing caused Him and nothing is required to sustain Him.
To understand eternal – Consider all the sand on the beach, then think about a bird picking up 1 grain every 10,000 years and flying away with it. When all the sand has been removed, not a blink of the eye has passed in eternity.
V2. “Was the Word” - Christ is the very “Word of God”
This also makes reference to (Gen 1), when God spoke creation into existence saying “Let there be…” Christ was God’s creative word. This is why vs. 3 teaches (all things were made through Him…)
It is impossible to consider a time when thought did not exist, if God is eternal then He has been in thought eternally.
Christ is that eternal thought. The Gk. Word used to describe this is Logos – This was an amazing choice of words by John because it united the 1st century minds of both Jews and Greeks:
For the Greek – Logos means the reason or logic of the universe
For the Jew – It is the creative and sustentative power of God
So John, when using the word “Logos” bridges the two, showing Jesus as the logic and sustaining force behind all of creation.
Christ is not just the creative power of the universe; He is the logic behind it. This means that He developed the human cell, matter and the laws that govern our universe. He is also responsible for the redemptive plan of salvation, Heaven, Hell, all things!
V2. “In Him was life” – Christ is “life”
Here we find Jesus as still more! He is more than the creator of the physical universe, He is life, that force that animates creation and gives it consciousness.
Nothing can exist apart from Christ who is life, see (Gen 2:7) – Rouach, breath of life); He is the power or electricity if you will of existence. In a very real sense, the universe is plugged into Christ.
V3. “and the Word was God” – Jesus is God
Ultimately Jesus is God…
Without taking a lot of time on this because to plunge the depths of what it means to be God takes a capacity greater than the human mind, let us define God in this manner:
1. God is Omniscient – He knows all things without recalling it
2. God is Omnipotent – He can do all things without limit
3. God is Omnipresent – The center of His presence is everywhere
But most importantly, God is love: 1 John 4:8 “God is love”
As Christian’s we worship Christ the King, the self existent, creator, giver and sustainer of life, who knows everything, can do anything and is everywhere centered, in short we worship GOD!
APPLICATION:
How does your worship and reverence for Christ stand up in light of this revelation? Is the Christ I just described, The King, the one you came prepared to worship today?
Remember, worship of Christ as King, flows out of a proper understanding of who Christ is and what Christ has done. It is not something we create inside of us, it is not emotionalism, it is a natural response and overflow of the heart.
Do not be discouraged, we all fall short and your desire to get better is a testimony to Christ’s work in you.
Christ is patient with you, but before you worship, before you pray, before you seek out Christ, take a moment to consider who it is you are seeking.
If you can, remember, every time you meet the risen Christ, you have entered into a moment of crisis.
II. What Has Christ Done – (John 1:14)
V14. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” – He Gave Everything
- When the question is asked, what Jesus gave for us, the answer is “EVERYTHING”…
The Ancient Church Held this verse in reverence “And the Word became flesh,”. They were sang it daily in every Mass in a slow tempo and were set to a special melody, different from that for the other words.
Why was this statement so important to the early church? Because, this statement was a demonstration of the sacrificial nature of our King, Jesus Christ, who gave everything for His creation.
He Limited:
Omniscience – Limited His Knowledge
Omnipotence – Limited His Power
Omnipresence – Limited His Location to one physical body
He Gave Up:
His Home with the Father – To embrace suffering in this dark world
His Kingdom authority – To submit to self indulgent Pharisees
His Very Life – To die as a common criminal
His Throne – For a wooden cross of agonizing pain
ILLUSTRATION:
It is said that Cyrus, the founder of the Persian Empire, once had captured a prince and his family. When they came before him, the monarch asked the prisoner, "What will you give me if I release you?" "The half of my wealth," was his reply. "And if I release your children?" "Everything I possess." "And if I release your wife?" "Your Majesty, I will give myself."
Cyrus was so moved by his devotion that he freed them all. As they returned home, the prince said to his wife, "Wasn’t Cyrus a handsome man!" With a look of deep love for her husband, she said to him, "I didn’t notice. I could only keep my eyes on you- -the one who was willing to give himself for me."
Before we worship Christ, let us take a moment to remember the one who was willing to give everything for us.
APPLICATION:
• Christ is not an ordinary King, rather than seize power and Lord it over us, Christ was given charge over all things because of His sacrificial giving.
• gave everything for your benefit, how does that effect your attitude toward Him?
• How does this challenge you?
• We need to change; we need to remember the unbelievable nature of our King, and to give Him the proper etiquette in worship He deserves.
• Illustration of Gold Etiquette – It’s not about you but others who prayed and want to enjoy the game. Worship is not about you either, it’s about worshiping Christ (The King) in a way worthy of His name.
CONCLUSION:
Today, do you recognize the King? Did you meet Him in worship? If not, can you remember the last time you did?
We meet the risen Christ in worship when we recognize who He is, and what Has done for us.
Here are some steps you can take, bring your worship of God to a new level:
A. Before you leave to travel to church, consider who Christ is and what Christ has done.
B. Determine to leave all other things behind and give God the reverence He is due.
C. Pray that Christ will fill your mind with the knowledge of Himself that it may occupy and consume your thoughts.
Today we have seen that Christ is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
• And this King Is: Close, not far away. Mt. 12:34 “you are not far from the Kingdom of Heaven”
• This relationship that leads to proper worship cannot be forced either on us or on God.
• Take time today to focus on the magisterial aspects of who Christ is, that your mind be transformed and that your worship of the King be perfected.
Amen!
